Freedom Caucus seeks big changes to omnibus

The House Freedom Caucus is offering an amendment to the government funding bill that would strip the $1.1 trillion package of a contentious cybersecurity measure and force the U.S. to tighten vetting of refugees from Syria and Iraq.

The amendment, offered by Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, would dramatically change the complexion of the omnibus, which Speaker Paul Ryan unveiled early Wednesday morning to criticism from conservative lawmakers. It's been filed to the House Rules Committee, which will determine if the measure gets a vote on the House floor.

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The House is set to vote on the government spending bill Friday.

Conservative Republicans were upset that a series of cybersecurity provisions were slipped into the government funding bill and want to see them removed. That measure, dubbed the Cybersecurity Act of 2015, make it easier for companies to share information on threats with the government without the risk of lawsuits from customers. Libertarian lawmakers like Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan are adamantly opposed to the bill as they argue it has little to no privacy protections for Americans.

The conservatives also want to see language on Syrian and Iraqi refugees included in the funding measure. The House voted last month on a bill that would increase the vetting standards for any individuals from those countries seeking to enter the U.S. as refugees. It passed by an overwhelming vote, including 47 Democrats, and was a major request from the Freedom Caucus to earn their support for the omnibus.

"How can you not put the refugee issue in there? It makes so much sense [to include it]," Jordan said late Tuesday night. "We were clear that if that goes in and [we get] something pretty good on the pro-life, we thought we could get a number of us [to vote for the spending bill]. But that’s not going to happen."

Jordan made those comments before filing the amendment on Wednesday.

The amendment would also stop a series of mining regulations from the Obama administration from going into affect and ensure that three anti-abortion policy riders are included.

Those "sanctity of life" provisions include a measure that would stop federal funds from going to Planned Parenthood and other health care clinics that provide abortions.

Ryan said he's not open to reworking the omnibus, which was carefully crafted by Republican and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate. It's unlikely that the conservatives' amendment will be included in the final package.